New PhD Course: Solving Major Societal Crises through Cross Disciplinary Actions - The example of CCUS
Date and time:
Starting date: Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024 - One session each Wednesday. 7 days of 3 hours + 1 smaller field trip 7 of hours. 8 sessions total
Note: This years course is booked and running but stay tuned for round 2 of the course which will take place in 2025.
Description
Society faces several major challenges related to climate, biodiversity, pandemics, food supply and security. The solutions to these ‘wicked problems’ are far from trivial and involve a complex mix and interactions of knowledge from many different disciplines, spanning from scientific and technological, to economic, regulatory and public policy intervention, humanitarian and societal understanding.
In this PhD course we will focus on the climate crisis as an example of such a major societal challenge. The course aims to demonstrate and discuss how solutions to this crisis depend on a fundamental shift in our approach to the use and management of carbon in society, and how this shift is dependent on inputs and understanding of basically every scientific discipline at the university. We will focus on how we can solve major societal challenges by an interdisciplinary approach and through collaboration across all of UCPH’s 6 faculties to provide a holistic understanding and viable solutions.
For many decades we have used fossil carbon to gain energy, releasing carbon from deep geological deposits into the atmosphere as CO2. As a result, the Earth’s climate is changing drastically, with a multitude of severe consequences for human life on Earth. The solution is simple in theory: stop emissions of fossil CO2 into the atmosphere and reverse the carbon flow by reclaiming CO2 from the atmosphere to store it.
But as simple in theory, as complicated in practice. The society will have to reduce the use of fossil carbon drastically by transforming energy supply to renewables, move from linear to circular thinking in carbon use, develop technologies to capture and store CO2, develop alternative ways to provide the carbon needed for materials and chemicals based on atmospheric carbon capture, ensure coordination and collaboration across carbon handling sectors such as our food production. And we must develop laws, incentives, markets and regulatory instruments concerning CO2 to facilitate this transition, change human behavior, ensure public involvement, ownership and acceptance of solutions. A complex and truly interdisciplinary mix of efforts.
The course will show how understanding of the carbon cycle, technologies for handling and management of carbon, landscape planning, policy, economy, human engagement, and justice all are fundamental requirements for sustainable solutions. The course is therefore looking for PhD students from all scientific disciplines with an interest in solutions to major societal crises. Because of the breadth and complexity of the climate problem, no student will be familiar with all aspects – all students will have a “home turf” as well as areas of limited knowledge and understanding. This is the intention. The course will introduce all the scientific directions, allowing everyone with a keen interest in the field to participate, and provide the participants with a deeper understanding of both the technological and societal/humanitarian aspects.
Furthermore, tackling the climate crisis requires collaboration with civil society actors. Therefore, in each session, we will also host a guest lecturer from societal entities, who will provide an “on-the-ground” perspective on the discussion topic, together with the respective faculty member(s).
Learning outcome
Knowledge:
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to
- Understand how the climate crisis is linked to the societal development and especially the use and management of carbon.
- Understand the fundamentals of the global carbon cycle".
- Understand how solutions to the climate crisis require a fundamental change in use and management of carbon and how this may interact and compete with biological carbon and food production and biodiversity.
- Understand how solutions to the climate crisis require a systemic and holistic approach to energy and consumption and a move from linear to circular thinking.
- Understand how solutions are dependent on societal and humanitarian interactions supporting economic incentives, governmental regulations and laws to manage carbon, change in citizen behavior, democratic processes to engagement and ownership and actions to protect the environment and biodiversity.
- Understand the interfaces between academic work and civil-society actors, including how the two can jointly contribute to solving the above-mentioned global challenges.
Skills:
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to
- Explain how climate change and the solutions to the climate crisis relates to the use and management of carbon, and how a switch in energy production/consumption and the complex biological carbon production and land use play significant roles in the climate solutions.
- Explain how a carbon neutral society leads to competition for carbon across sectors and uses, exploration and competition for land and requires societal prioritizations.
- Explain how carbon neutrality requires societal solutions through laws, regulatory instruments, the establishment of a coordinated carbon market and democratic participation and decision making.
- Be able to engage in the public debate about the importance of societal and humanitarian interaction in the development of solutions to complex societal challenges.
Competences:
- Competently outline and discuss the complex challenge and solution of carbon management in the climate crisis and the need for technological as well as societal and humanitarian approaches in developing solutions.